Election fails to dampen property market appetite

There is now almost as much stock available as in April 2009. This can largely be attributed to sellers’ expectation of a hung parliament. Changes to property legislation will be low on the priority list for a coalition government and sellers have felt little need to sit on their hands and wait for the election result.

These latest figures support the FindaProperty.com survey conducted at the beginning of the election which showed house hunters would not let the election affect their decision to continue searching for a property. Eight in ten (83%) people searching for a property stated that they will continue their search despite the election and three quarters (74%) said that the election result would not stop them buying a property.

This steady demand has controlled prices as more stock has hit the market.

The regional picture for the housing market is positive in May with all regions except Scotland recording stable or rising prices. The largest rise was in the East of England (+1.1%) with average prices now standing at £217,774.

Nigel Lewis, property analyst at FindaProperty.com, comments:

“The election has done little to temper people’s appetite to enter the property market. We’ve seen another rise in the number of properties for sale, so sellers haven’t felt the need to wait until after the election. And prices continue to rise suggesting that strong demand is propping up prices despite the influx of new stock.

"Many have speculated that a hung parliament will be bad for the housing market, which tends to pick up after elections whatever the outcome. The new Con-Lib government has now confirmed that they will be scrapping HIPs in favour of a standalone EPC, but other than that, so far none of the other announced policies include major changes to the home buying and selling process, so there’s no reason we should expect the coalition government to cause a property crash."